Fortuna Waterfall and Arenal Volcano

Deep in the Costa Rican Rainforest is the tourist town of La Fortuna, known for incredible nature, hot springs and outdoor adventures this place is a magical stop on any tour of Central America. We visited during the dry season and it rained almost all day every day, so if you come here, you are going to get wet. During a brief break in the rain we decided to hike down to Fortuna Waterfall.

There are a series of falls coming off the volcano and mountains in the area. The jungle is dense here and since everything is wet you want to wear decent shoes when walking. To enter the National Park it is $20 per person, or $10 if you are local, this is just to walk down a trail to a waterfall. Costa Rica has gotten really expensive since the last time we visited.

The path is well maintained with bridges and stairs but we can walk on thousands of kilometers of trails in Banff for far less money. While Costa Rica is beautiful, they have to get over themselves with these prices. We found a lot of the attractions to be a total rip off but when you are on vacation, you have to do something.

Needless to say the waterfall is stunning. It's wet nearby so we had to be careful with the camera. It almost always rains here and the mist from the falls and water drops falling from the leaves keep everything green.

Here is a photo of the Arenal Volcano. Famous for its classic shape and it's recent eruption that lit up the night sky. You're lucky if you can see this thing as most of the time it was covered in clouds.

As soon as we could see it we got in the car for a closer look. The view from Los Lagos Resort. Is one of the best, we didn't stay here but they sell day passes and have a series of thermal hot springs and pools people can relax in. Despite being in a tropical jungle, it does get cold because you are in the hills and it always rains.

Lagito Mona with the Volcano in the background. This place is a tropical paradise. Bear in mind, it is not the best place to be if the volcano erupts. In 1968 when the volcano erupted it destroyed some houses and dozens of people perished.

A Koi pond makes us forget about the destruction. We went to a few thermal spas and relaxed in the well manicured gardens.

Here is a jungle spring, Costa Rica has so many little rivers, they are literally everywhere. Walking through the forest, listening to the water and smelling the fresh air was a pleasure.

This place had a natural pool they built by damming the river. The water is clean enough to swim in but I would not want to drink it. While this part of Costa Rica has clean water, you still want to have a filter.

When it is this wet out, we did not really get that thirsty. The river is almost always raging because of the constant rain and steep elevation changes.

When the tropical sun comes out, it is so bright the photo is almost over exposed. Costa Rica is one of the most colourful countries we have ever been to. The people and the nature.

A little stream is a raging torrent. There are many rafting tours in the area one can take on some of the larger rivers in the area. This one looked very dangerous and was full of rocks.